If your company has a vaccination mandate, employees may be exempt for sincerely held religious reasons/beliefs if they don’t cause an undue hardship on the organization and other workers. But what exactly does that mean?
Guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suggests:
- Beliefs based on economic, social, or personal preferences are not considered religious for purposes of legal exemption. The employer may reasonably determine that an objection that refers to constitutional rights or political views is not legally valid.
- Concerns regarding vaccine safety or efficacy, as well as those about the trustworthiness of the media or government, are not religious beliefs. However, an employee with a disability may be excused from a vaccine mandate, depending on the person’s condition.
- Employers that have an objective basis for determining the viability of an exemption request may seek additional information to make a legally reasonable decision.
